Moto Guzzi California 1400 leaked

A year ago Moto Guzzi revealed a single, poorly-lit picture of a prototype California cruiser with an all-new 1400cc engine.

Now we can reveal many more details of the production version of that bike thanks to leaked pictures from a dealer convention and a raft of design drawings.

Thanks to poor lighting and extensive plastic covers on the prototype seen last year, much speculation arose over whether or not the new engine was water-cooled.

These new images, however, reveal that yes, it is liquid cooled, but seems to be using extensive oil-cooling rather than traditional water-cooling.

The large radiator at the front is much bigger than the average oil cooler, but too small for a purely water-cooled 1400cc engine. It also appears to use small-section tubing to connect it to the engine rather than typically large water pipes.

The implication is that the radiator is actually an oil cooler – similar to that of the Griso – and that the motor still relies on traditional Guzzi cooling fins for a large portion of its cooling.

Of the engine, we know that it's a 90 degree V-twin with four valves per cylinder, a totally new design that will become the basis of all new Guzzis in the future.

The extensive cooling fins on the cylinders, heads and crankcases are futher evidence that despite its 21st century design, it hasn't bowed to the pressure to become entirely water-cooled.

By using a large oil cooler, Guzzi should be able to get better control over the engine's temperature, something that's key to meeting emissions regulations without losing too much power.